Beatles expert visiting Cornwall, speaking at Care Centre

Piers Hemmingsen holding a Cornwall test pressing of the White Album, at a previous visit to the Cornwall Community Museum.Handout/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia Network
Handout Not For ResaleSupplied

The Beatles’ White Album is back on the charts thanks to a 50th-anniversary reissue.

And there’s a Cornwall angle to all of it – a presentation coming up Tuesday night at the Care Centre, for the SD&G Historical Society and members of the public.

On the 50th anniversary of the Canadian release of the White Album, researcher/author Piers Hemmingsen will deliver the special presentation, including an assessment of what took place in this country to make the new double LP available to Beatles’ fans using purely analog means.

“No digital encoding of music whatsoever was employed in November of 1968,’’ said

Don Smith, associate curator/manager for the Cornwall Community Museum and with the SD&G Historical Society.

“At the time, processes were in place to have music replicated in the tens of thousands at Cornwall’s Compo record pressing plant. Thanks to the streamlined production approach and the efforts of plant workers, they made it possible to play and enjoy the new Beatles master-work on their record player at home within 24 to 48 hours of its release.’’

A Compo record pressing plant truck from yesteryear in front of the Cornwall plant, photo courtesy of the Cornwall Community Museum.Handout/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia NetworkHandout Not For ResaleSupplied

Smith noted that uniquely for Canada, the official Apple release date of the album in 1968 was delayed by a number of factors; “Hemmingsen’s presentation will address those in detail,’’ he said.

The 50th-anniversary event will also include a component for former Cornwall Compo employees to offer Hemmingsen insights which may provide useful material in the creation of an entire chapter on the record plant in an upcoming book, The Beatles in Canada: The Evolution 1964-1970.

“It’s our third and likely final opportunity for former (Cornwall Compo) employees to offer input into the book,’’ Smith said, referring to two previous visits by Hemmingsen to the Cornwall Community Museum.

Hemmingsen, Smith noted, has also contributed the Canadian chapter to the new Bruce Spizer book, The Beatles White Album & Launch of Apple (Nov. 22, 2018).

“This new book was mentioned in the (Los Angeles) Times last week as being an excellent companion book for Apple’s newly remastered White Album release,’’ Smith said.

Hemmingsen is looking forward to Tuesday’s event, where he will be chatting with some of the former staff at Cornwall’s Compo record plant which pressed the albums.

“I’ve had a couple of meetings already with the Compo staff, arranged by (Smith), and for The Beatles in Canada BUE book,’’ Hemmingsen said. “I’ve done many telephone interviews as well – quite a few of the staff were employed at Compo when the LPs were pressed.

“As Compo literally pressed thousands of different titles, only a few I spoke with could remember specific titles, but fortunately I was able to speak with a few people who remembered working on specific Beatles discs.’’

Why was the Compo plant so significant?

“After 1966, Compo was the primary pressing plant for Capitol of Canada, and RCA Victor at Smiths Falls was the secondary pressing plant,’’ Hemmingsen explained. “Compo was the sole pressing company for Sgt. Pepper in 1967 and Revolver in 1966. Demand for the new two-LP set in November of 1968 was huge, so it was a challenge for Compo to get thousands of double albums pressed and distributed before Christmas.

“RCA Victor was brought in after the pressing job was started at Compo.’’

Note that a test pressing of the White Album for Compo has survived, and will be on display next week.

Canada’s release of the White Album (Nov. 27) was later than in the U.S. and United Kingdom. The U.S. date was Nov. 22, so a delay of about five days north of the border.

“The Beatles themselves had insisted that every cover be numbered so that every one was unique,’’ Hemmingsen said. “The problem was that the numbered covers for Canada were never manufactured here.’’

A few thousand numbered jackets were imported from the U.S., but they were delayed at the border.

“The jackets that Canada received were numbered well above 1.5 million,’’ Hemmingsen said. “Another problem was that not enough jackets were sent up, (so a) Montreal jacket manufacturer, Ever Reddy, had to come up with something at the last minute and these jackets could not be numbered in the U.S. sequence – there just wasn’t enough time to sort out a Canadian numbered jacket.’’

So, the “Canadian-made’’ jackets were un-numbered, and they were also physically smaller in size, given the risk order.

The event Tuesday at the Care Centre (510 Second St. East) is from 7-8:30 p.m.